Small-Group Yosemite Day Tour from San Francisco

Overview

Yosemite National Park is a must-visit California gem, and this day trip from San Francisco makes it easy. Leave the urban hustle-bustle behind and journey through Central Valley, Gold Country and the Sierra Nevada foothills to UNESCO World Heritage–listed Yosemite National Park. Take a 1.5-hour narrated van tour of Yosemite Valley, including Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, Bridalveil Falls and El Capitan, and then set off on your own for three hours to explore independently. Numbers are limited to 23 on this small-group tour, ensuring a more personalized wilderness experience.

City: San Francisco

Wed 25 Dec

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $179.00

Make a reservation

Wed 25 Dec

Starting at $179.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Yosemite National Park entrance fee

Narrated in-coach tour of Yosemite (1.5 hrs)

Full-time professional, knowledgeable guide

Transport by biofueled mini-coach

Hotel pickup and drop-off from select SF hotels

3 hours of free time in the Valley

Additional Info

Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Public transportation options are available nearby
Specialized infant seats are available
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Social distancing enforced throughout experience
Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Contactless payments for gratuities and add-ons
Face masks recommended

What To Expect

San Francisco Bay

As you settle in for the journey, we’ll pass by some exceptional San Francisco sights. Catch views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island and the incomparable San Francisco Skyline as we head east on the Bay Bridge. The journey to Yosemite typically takes about 4 hours.

Oakdale

You’ll taste a piece of California’s rich agricultural hub as we pass through a slice of the Central Valley famous for specialty fruits and nuts such as almonds, walnuts, cherries, and strawberries. Here we will also make a stop at a grocery store for you to pick up lunch and any other supplies you'll need for the day.

Tunnel View

We’ll continue into the mountains as we connect with the rich history of California’s gold country, passing through some of the first settlements built during the Gold Rush. Take in the earthy forest smell as we make our way to the heart of the park. Your guide will pepper you with stories and historical facts about the different sights. The climb through Yosemite Valley offers breathtaking views as we wind our way up to 4,500 feet above sea level. Arrive at Yosemite National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, massive sequoia trees and biological diversity. Admire famous Half Dome, depicted in famous photographs by Ansel Adams, and watch rock climbers scale El Capitan's 3,000-foot (914-meter) sheer granite rock face. Enjoy incredible vistas from the Tunnel View overlook, and end your in-coach tour near the base of Yosemite Falls, the tallest waterfall in North America.

Yosemite Valley

The suspense is over! Once we reach the drop off location, you’ll have around 3 hours of free time to explore. Want to hike or bike around? Your guide will point out the best spots on your map. You’ll have options to meander or bike down paved paths, hike the trails, engage further with the park’s history at the visitor center, or visit the Ansel Adams Gallery. Although you could spend three weeks in Yosemite, the three hours you get on your own is enough time to understand why Yosemite is one of America’s most popular national parks.

Yosemite Falls

During your free time in Yosemite Valley, you can talk a walk or bike around the base of Yosemite Falls to take in its beauty.

Ansel Adams Gallery

During your free time in Yosemite Valley, you can choose to visit the famous photographer' gallery to view a collection of Ansel Adams' original photographs.

San Francisco

Once we’ve had our time to explore, we’ll come together in the late afternoon and set our course back to San Francisco, stopping for a short break before arriving back in the city. You will arrive back at your hotel by around 8:30 – 9:00 p.m. to sleep off the days’ adventures.

Show 4 more stops

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (350)

Patricia F

Sep 2016

Was a great way to see Yosemite while in San Francisco. Makes for a long day but well planned stops to, from, helped. Our guide was excellent, with recommendations for picking up sandwiches and picnic type lunches in the park saved lots of time. It is unfortunate that we thought this tour could go to more areas directly but basically shuttles do it all and driver parks. It was too rigorous for the older members of our group to walk to Half Dome but younger ones enjoyed it. We did stop at Tunnelview and El Capitan in our van so that was nice. And time for all the pictures you wanted. Nice facilities in the park but lots of people and private cars were 2 hr delays. It was a weekend. The buses and vans have their own lane and zip by most of the traffic which nice plus.

EC_B

Sep 2016

We were disappointed when we found out after we were on our way in the van that there were no active waterfalls because they were dried up and that going to see the Sequoias was not included in the one day trip. We stopped at a grocery store to purchase our lunches but there were no coolers to keep the lunches cool or warm. The driver gave no direction as to when or where we would eat lunch so we ended up eating where there was no place to sit. The driver's attitude was rather pompous.

Laura P

Sep 2016

I was really bummed with the quality of our tour guide and the tour itself. I chose the tour because I thought we would be getting more out of it than just driving there ourselves. That wasn't the case. Sadly, our tour guide did a terrible job during the bus ride of giving us any history or background. Some of the information was not even correct. Once we were at the park, there was no guided tour at all - we ended up signing up for a Yosemite guided tour had to pay and had an amazing experience. We didn't even get the 'stops' that were described in the guide information. It was basically just transport. The bus itself was okay - apparently they were 'borrowing' some other company's bus for the day - but, that's not why we booked them. We believed we were riding on a 'luxury bio-diesel' aka mercedes bus, but it was just a plane jane cramped transport bus. :/